East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Releases Earnings Results

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11, FiscalAI reports. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from East West Bancorp’s conference call:

• East West delivered a record quarter for loans, deposits, and fee income — deposits +9% YoY (non‑interest‑bearing up nearly $800M), loans +7% YoY, and fee income +12% YoY to $99M with strong wealth management momentum.
• Quarterly net interest income rose to $671M and management raised full‑year managed income guidance to 6%–8% (from 5%–7%) driven by a “higher for longer” rate outlook; NIM is expected to be flat to modestly positive.
• Capital and shareholder returns remain strong: CET1 15.1%, tangible common equity 10.3%; repurchased ~938k shares for $98M (about $117M authority remaining) and paid ~$111M in dividends after increasing the payout.
• Management warned of ongoing deposit pricing pressure and a flattening of prior CD roll‑down benefits, noted some Q1 capital‑call draws already paid down in Q2 (adding volatility to loan balances), and expects 7%–9% expense growth as it invests in cyber/AI and growth initiatives.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $120.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $77.02 and a 12-month high of $123.82.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total transaction of $858,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,252 shares in the company, valued at $643,842.68. This represents a 57.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $169,099.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,612,807. This represents a 9.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 60,221 shares of company stock worth $7,139,287 in the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,034.8% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial set a $121.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.36.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.